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This is the recipe you were looking for, delightful and authentic.

There are several ways to make a meatball soup, and this is
one of the simplest recipes that I’ve found that my family likes. These Mexican
Meatballs are cooked in a tomato broth flavored with cilantro. There’s no
rocket science here, just an easy process with common ingredients and you’ve
got an extraordinary soup that I’m sure everyone in your family, even the
little ones, will love.

This soup can be found at many Mexican “fondas”, small mom
and pop restaurants that sell meals at noon for the office workers. It is also
a popular way to use ground meat. It is a very versatile soup, allowing you to
add vegetables or other types of herbs to season it. You can also mix half ground
pork meat and half ground beef. Other meatball soups add cooked eggs or rice to
the meat mixture; you can check out two other options here on the blog: Chipotle Meatballs and Jalisco StyleMeatballs.

SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE TOMATO BROTH:

1 Lb. tomato

¼ medium white onion

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 cups of chicken broth*

½ cup chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

FOR THE MEATBALLS:

1 Lb. ground beef

1 slice of bread

¼ cup milk

1 large egg, beaten.

1 garlic clove, chopped (or 1/3-teaspoon garlic powder)

6 peppercorns or (½ teaspoon of ground pepper)

Salt to taste

NOTES:

Some cooks in Mexico use granulated chicken bullion instead
of the chicken broth. Follow the package directions to make the 4 cups of broth
needed.

You can add other diced vegetables like carrots, potatoes,
zucchini, chayote and potatoes to the broth while it is simmering. If adding
carrots, add them at the beginning with the tomato sauce. Other vegetables will
take less time cook and can be added when you add the meatballs.

I prefer to buy ground meat with a little bit of fat, like
the one sold at the market with an 85/15% of fat content. It has more flavor,
and you can easily remove the fat after it floats to the surface of the broth.

DIRECTIONS:

1.
Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic on a hot
griddle to roast. Turn occasionally to have an even roasting (about 5-7
minutes). Once roasted, place in your blender and process until you have a
smooth sauce. If your tomatoes aren’t juicy and your blender is having a hard
time blending, add ¼ cup of water.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan
at medium high heat. Once it is hot, gently pour in the sauce and cook for
about 5 minutes and then add the chicken broth. Keep cooking. When it starts
boiling, reduce the heat to simmer. While
the sauce is cooking we will start forming the meatballs.

3.
To from the meatballs: In a small bowl, soak the
bread with the milk until it is softened, about 1 minute.

4.
Place meat in a large bowl and make a well in
the center.

5.
Grind garlic clove and peppercorns in your
molcajete (the flavors won’t be able to compare if you use the dried form, but
they’ll still work fine). Once ground, add it to the meat, as well as the bread
soaked in milk and the beaten egg. Season with salt.

6.
Gently mix with your hands or a wooden spoon. Do
not over-mix or your meatballs will be hard. Next, form the small balls (the
size of a golf ball) with your hands, without forcing or putting too much
pressure on the meat, and carefully drop them into the simmering tomato broth.
Keep making the meatballs, repeating this process. Once all of the meatballs
are in the broth, cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. 5 minutes before they’re
done, add the chopped cilantro and season with salt.

This soup is traditionally served with rice or beans and warm corn tortillas. They are really delicious and a very comforting meal.

Hello,Yes, you can add 1/4 cup of uncooked rice to the meat mixture. Check the recipe for Jalisco Style Meatballs, link is on the second paragraph above. Those meatballs also have zucchini besides rice. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for this! I was looking for an authentic recipe to make for my family for Christmas dinner. The others used cans of this and cans of that. I like that yours is really from scratch. Looking forward to making my practice run of this next week!!! Also….is this something I could make ahead and reheat?

Well, it looks like I will be making a mish-mash of the two recipes you have as not just one is a match. But the two combined…I think my Great-Grandmother would approve! She didn't write recipes down. She didn't really measure either. She just "knew". We all just kind've got to watch her work her magic. And before you knew it, you had a big bowl of Heaven in front of you with the tightest rolled corn tortilla in your hand.A lot of your recipes have been able to take me back to those memories. Thank you for that. I am hoping this is another to add to the list.

Hello John,I'm sure it does, we never have leftovers. But, I know that meatballs and tomato sauce freeze well. If you do (freeze them), please come back to tell us the taste and texture after reheating them, hopefully on a stove top pot. 😉

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¡HOLA!

Hi, I’m Mely Martinez, a former Mexican school teacher, home cook, and food blogger. I moved to the United States about ten years ago, after living in Mexico my whole life. Now I love to share home-style recipes of authentic Mexican food. Read more…